Samsung’s 75-inch ES9000 Smart TV launches in South Korea for just over $17,000

Samsung may have set its sights on AMOLEDs this year, that doesn’t mean old-school LCD technology will fall by the wayside. It’s just getting bigger. This week, Samsung launched its 75-inch ES9000 Smart TV in South Korea just this week for 19.8 million KW ($17,463 USD).

If bigger is better, this might be the next best option of watching the 2012 summer Olmypics, after Panasonic’s monstrous IMAX-competing 145-inch Ultra High Definition TV. Besides its size, the TV has Wi-Fi, access to Samsung Apps, its own app store with apps from Pandora, YouTube, Netflix, Hulu Plus and others.

The 75-inch 1080p screen is a jump up in screen size from Samsung’s existing line of 51-inch and 55-inch screens in the 7500 and 8000 series televisions that Samsung has already brought to market. The differences in prices between the 75-inch and 55-inch TVs are dramatic. The ES9000’s smaller cousins top out around $4,000, less than a quarter of its price.

Like other Smart TVs, the 75-inch screen includes Samsung’s proprietary “Smart Interaction” technology. The tech, revealed at CES 2012, offers a hands-free method of accessing and activating your television. Through a mic and integrated webcam, viewers can turn on or off the TV, access the app store, adjust the volume and browse the Internet. Besides the usual remote control, Samsung offers an app to control the TV using a smartphone. Facial-recognition technology also prevents unwarranted users (whether friends or even children) from accessing and purchasing apps on the Samsung app store.

Samsung’s Evolution Kit also makes it possible to upgrade television’s processing power down the line — a new chip can be installed into a slot on the back of the TV.

Samsung’s mammoth TV hasn’t yet hit the international market, so potential buyers take note: You have a head start to scrape together $17,000.